Blog:Food a sticking spot in European sales "rebound"

Following three straight months of decline, European retail sales picked up slightly in November. However, as Christmas approached, food remained a soft spot.

According to the latest figures from Eurostat, month-on-month sales in the euro area rose by 0.1%. But before we start hailing the beginnings of an upturn in Europe, it must be remembered that this month-on-month rise seems a natural trend given the approach of Christmas. Year-on-year, the figure is far less encouraging as euro zone sales were down 2.6%

For our industry, the numbers are more gloomy still. Food, drink and tocacco sales were down 0.3% month-on-month and 2.1% year-on-year. Countries that saw the biggest declines were - unsurprisingly - Spain, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Portugal.

With the euro zone struggling on, how do you expect your business fair over the coming 12 months? Do you expect to see an up-tick in economic activity on the continent? Share your views in our 2013 confidence survey. The results will be presented in a webinar in February.